Inter‐serotype reassortment among epizootic haemorrhagic disease viruses in the United States

First described in 1955 in New Jersey, epizootic haemorrhagic disease (EHD) causes a severe clinical disease in wild and domestic ruminants worldwide. Epizootic haemorrhagic disease outbreaks occur in deer populations each year from summer to late autumn. The etiological agent is EHD virus (EHDV) which is a double‐stranded segmented icosahedral RNA virus. EHD virus utilizes point mutations and reassortment strategies to maintain viral fitness during infection. In 2018, EHDV serotype 2 was predominantly detected in deer in Illinois. Whole genome sequencing was conducted for two 2018 EHDV2 isolates (IL41747 and IL42218) and the sequence analyses indicated that IL42218 was a reassortant between different serotypes whereas IL41747 was a genetically stable strain. Our data suggest that multiple strains contribute to outbreaks each year.     

Chewing Gum Headaches

Aspartame, a popular dietetic sweetener, may provoke headache in some susceptible individuals. Herein, we describe three cases of young women with migraine who reported their headaches could be provoked by chewing sugarless gum containing aspartame.     

Rehabilitation of the patient with chronic back pain. A search for outcome predictors

This prospective study was initiated 3 years ago to evaluate the outcome and to identify predictors of success or failure in patients admitted to a rehabilitation program for chronic low-back pain. Multiple parameters were evaluated, including psychologic data (MMPI, personal interview, pain drawing, etc.), physical measurements (flexibility, strength and endurance), and demographic data concerning the patient's home and working environment. Information was available on each patient admitted to the program prior to his admission, at completion of the program, 6 weeks following completion of the program and 3 months following completion of the program. A telephone interview was carried out 2 1/2 years following the patient's discharge from the program. Linear regression analysis was used to identify the important independent variables with regard to the dependent variables of relief of back pain, return to work and increased activities at home. Demographic data were of no value as a predictor with the exception of age and returning to work. The patients over the age of 50 returned to work with much less frequency than those less than 50. Psychologic information from the MMPI and similar tests were of no value. The personal preadmission interview of a trained psychologist, however, was a good predictor of an individual's eventual return to work and overall improvement. Worker's Compensation and other litigation was a negative factor in a patient's prognosis. The treatment team's prognosis at the time of discharge from the program was the best overall predictor of a patient's chance of success or failure in the longterm.     

Thrombelastographic measures of clot propagation: a comparison of alpha with the maximum rate of thrombus generation.

The alpha angle alpha (degrees) is a thrombelastographic measure of clot propagation. A parametric measurement of clot propagation [maximum rate of thrombus generation (MRTG), dynes/cm2 per s], however, has recently been utilized. Thus, the relationship of changes in alpha with changes in MRTG were determined. alpha and MRTG values obtained from 859 thrombelastograms was collected from nine studies. Data were analyzed and the relationship between alpha and MRTG defined with commercially available software. Additional comparisons were made retrospectively from whole-blood and plasma data obtained from 33 normal individuals. Data from the nine studies demonstrated that MRTG increased in an exponential fashion compared with increases in alpha (R2 = 0.88, P < 0.001). Whole-blood alpha values were in the range 66.7-74.7 whereas MRTG values were 5.5-10.8, and plasma alpha values were 65.1-77.9 with corresponding MRTG values of 3.5-12.0. Assessment of clot propagation utilizing MRTG provides a more parametric evaluation than the determination of alpha. While normal alpha values may vary by only 12-20%, MRTG values vary by approximately 200-300%. The MRTG should be progressively utilized to a greater extent in both laboratory and clinical settings to parametrically quantify clot growth kinetics with thrombelastography.     

Time-resolved MR imaging by automatic data segmentation

A method for time-resolved imaging that provides a flexible trade-off between imaging time and temporal resolution is presented. It is based on a view order selection technique that automatically segments the acquired raw data into appropriate temporal frames. When used with cardiac monitoring and phase-contrast imaging, data similar to that obtained with a conventional gated phase-contrast sequence are acquired rapidly. For many applications, the temporal resolution can be reduced enough to permit imaging within a breath-hold interval, while still allowing accurate time-averaged flow quantitation. This is a general technique that can be implemented within a variety of pulse sequences and can resolve other motion cycles, including the respiratory cycle.     

NK cells developing in vitro from fetal mouse progenitors express at least one member of the Ly49 family that is acquired in a time-dependent and stochastic manner independently of CD94 and NKG2

NK cells developing in vitro from fetal progenitors in the presence of IL-2 are phenotypically and functionally indistinguishable from mature adult NK cells, with the exception that they generally lack surface expression of any of the Ly49 molecules that have previously been examined. Using two recently developed anti-Ly49 mAb, we show here that most of these NK cells in fact express high levels of at least one previously uncharacterized member of the Ly49 family, most likely Ly49E. Detailed kinetic and clonal analysis revealed that these Ly49 molecules were acquired in a progressive and stochastic manner independently of CD94 and NKG2. CD94 and NKG2 were both expressed early in NK cell development, sometimes in the absence of NK1.1, with CD94 invariably being expressed at two different levels. IL-4 differentially inhibited the expression of CD94 and Ly49 receptors, but had little or no effect on the expression of NKRP1 molecules.